Cardboard

[FatPete]

Hi everyone,

Bit of a noob question, sorry.

Ive got some Cohiba Lanceros and Siglo I in cardboard boxes in a five pack. Should I take them out of all the packaging or keep them in? I've up till now kept them in the cardboard to prevent damaging them when I rummage in the humidor and to keep the box codes with them. But...will they age as well, will they be more likely to get mouldy etc. 

Thanks 

[canadianbeaver]

I vote keep in. Great for travel.

CB

[shlomo]

I remove as much packaging as I can. I don't like paper in my humidor, especially for aging as I find the constant contact with the paper leads to musty cigars down the road. Others disagree and some have left cigars in cardboard for a decade+ with no ill effects.

[cigcars]

     * I leave mine in the cardboard...

[cardinalfan85]

I take them out and put them in a tray or find room in another box.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[PigFish]

It really depends on how well you can control the storage of your cigars.

As @shlomo has indicated, paper products, allowed to get too wet can reek of mildew. If you have limited control over rH and temp, it may be best to remove them. If you have a track record of being able to store cigars along with their paper products without odor, then you can keep them.

Cheers! -Piggy

[FatPete]

Thanks everyone for their input so far. 

Piggy, my track record of storing cigars amounts to a measly 1 year only. I have 2 humidors, my ageing humidor runs at 60F and 65%RH,  and my smoking humidor is also at 65% but in ambient house temp which is between 68-72F(as long as the girlfriend doesn't turn the heating up . 

The cardboard has always appeared perfectly dry in each......so far 

 

[PigFish]

12 hours ago, FatPete said:

Thanks everyone for their input so far. 

Piggy, my track record of storing cigars amounts to a measly 1 year only. I have 2 humidors, my ageing humidor runs at 60F and 65%RH,  and my smoking humidor is also at 65% but in ambient house temp which is between 68-72F(as long as the girlfriend doesn't turn the heating up . 

The cardboard has always appeared perfectly dry in each......so far 

 

Welcome to the fight my friend. Cigar smokers are great people!

I wanted to reinforce the comment that might have been overlooked by some in Shlomo's post. Frankly, I found the point he made to be beyond simple opinion and of particular importance as it represents a storage 'issue' and not just an opinion. Cardboard, when too wet will stink! This includes the poorly pressed cardboard that often protects the varnished and special boxes. Like many, I like to keep packaging complete for reference and I suppose for value reasons, but paper products in humidors can cause problems.

Based on what you have said here you will likely be just fine. However cool cigars that are kept 65rH and higher can give you this issue. As you are newer to this, you will likely have these cigars smoked within a year and if you live in a net rH negative environment, and not using a wine cooler, you should be fine.

-Piggy

Edited August 15, 2017 by PigFish
corrected for clarity

[luvdunhill]

I remove as much packaging as I can. I don't like paper in my humidor, especially for aging as I find the constant contact with the paper leads to musty cigars down the road.

Does your rule of thumb apply to Fonsecas?

[shlomo]

3 hours ago, luvdunhill said:

 

Does your rule of thumb apply to Fonsecas?

 

I never liked Fonseca until recent No. 1, so I never had more than a couple in there at any given time. I have not taken paper off of each cigar from my boxes, nor have I opened all my RyJ Cazadores, or taken the foil off my Boli Gold Medals, Punch Diademas or Punch Platinos...

[PapaDisco]

My cardboard packs never survive long enough for me to give an opinion on LT taste effects.  What I do notice, however, is how discolored the cardboard becomes from the tobacco oils evaporating off of the sticks.  Since that's clearly happening, I'd rather have cigar-on-cigar and now remove cardboard packaging if I'm going to rest the cigar for more than a month or two.

[Winchester21]

I have wondered the same. Tried it both ways.  After a year or so I can detect no ill effects from the cardboard. I bought a box of paper tubes aged siglo2s 2012 that are smoking just fine. I do keep my sticks at 65 or below for long term aging

[Fugu]

When cardboard in the humidor is giving off a musty scent, then there is, or has been, an issue with storage humidity in the first place. So actually, leaving the cardboard on and you've got a fine gauge of proper storage conditions.... . (And to keep in mind, also dress boxes come lined with paper...)

That said, even when not musty or mouldy, cardboard tends to give off that slight unpleasant typical "cardboardy" smell. One may notice that scent coming off the wrapper in sticks that have been stored for longer periods in cardboard, perhaps even get it from the cold draw. But from my experience usually not noticeable in the lit cigar. The more recent petacas and single-stick cardboard boxes seem to come in a better quality material that is now more neutral in that respect (instead of the heavily recycled grey cardboard stuff of old, now it seems to be made of a higher-density, fine-grade, bleached paperboard).

Cardboard, i.e. petacas of plain cigars (not the tubed ones), is certainly not made for long-term aging, but up to about 5 years will do fine for me (I had sticks still going strong even much longer than that). In boxes I see no issue whatsoever in leaving the original outer cardboard on.